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Dr. Mubarak graduated from the University of Colombo with a

first class honours and has a PhD from the University of

Cambridge, U.K. He did his Post-doctoral research at the

University of Maryland, College Park campus and Royal Institute

of Technology, Stockholm. Dr. Mubarak, a Commonwealth

Scholar, was Director/CEO of the Industrial Technology Institute

(formerly CISIR) from 2002-2012.

Dr. Mubarak served in many Presidential and Ministerial Task

Forces dealing with Science & Technology and had been an

active member of Sri Lanka Delegation in several bilateral

discussions with India on S&T cooperation. He currently serves

as a member of the Ministerial committee for monitoring joint

R&D Projects undertaken under Indo-Sri Lanka S&T cooperation.

Profile of Dr. A.M. Mubarak

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He was a Member of the National Science and Technology

Commission and has served on the Council of University of

Colombo and several other Boards including Post Graduate

Institute of Science (PGIS), Peradeniya, and National Engineering

Research & Development Centre (NERDC). Currently he is on the

Board of Rehabilitation of Persons, Properties and Industries

Authority (REPPIA) and a member of the Governing Council of

Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB).

Dr. Mubarak is the current President of the National Academy of

Sciences, Sri Lanka and, a Past General President of Sri Lanka

Association for the Advancement of Science and a Past President

of Institute of Chemistry, Ceylon. Dr. Mubarak is non-executive

and independent Chairman/Director of Union Chemicals Lanka

PLC, and non-executive and independent Director of EB Creasy &

Co PLC, Darley Butler PLC, Muller & Phipps (Ceylon) PLC,

Laxapana Batteries PLC and Duramedical (Lanka) Ltd.

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Convocation Address

It is a great honour and a privilege for me to be with you

today at your convocation from one of the emerging Faculties in

the country. Firstly, I would like to congratulate all of you

students, your parents and families and also the members of the

faculty who have given you such a strong foundation to excel.

You all can feel proud of your achievements.

Dear Students, to day you take a very decisive step to the

outside world. You are en route to building your career, and your

life. It is a happy occasion for both you and your family. It is also

the time to reflect and think - to learn from the wisdom and

advice of those who have been down this path before you. By

getting an excellent education, you have built a strong and

resilient foundation for the future.

BUT…please remember that your learning process does

not come to an end today. Learning is a life long process. You will

continue to learn at work, at your business and at home. There is

a famous saying that the man who graduates today and stops

learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after. Success may not

come rapidly or without difficulty. But if you go all out to do

what’s right, and if you work harder and dream bigger, then I’m

confident that you all will together make a significant

contribution to the progress of this beautiful island nation of

ours.

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Apart from the sound base you have built in your subject

areas it is also important to develop the soft skills that employers

out there are looking for. What then are these soft skills? The top

five personal qualities and skills employers seek are -

Communication skills (both verbal and written), Analytical skills,

Strong work ethics, Team play (works well with others) and,

ability and courage to take the initiative. And employers want

college graduates who can transition from the textbook world to

the practical work seamlessly.

Dear Students, all the planning and preparation in the

world can’t prepare you for the many bends and dips that will

come your way. Be prepared for the unexpected; make room for

unlikely events. You will no doubt make mistakes but don't be

discouraged or disheartened. Theodore Roosevelt said, “The

only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does

anything”. I am sure you don’t want to be that man! Thomas

Edison encountered several failures before inventing the first

practical electric light bulb in 1879. Nobody saw the years of

effort and the number of failures he had to face for that single

life-defining moment. He knew that to enjoy success one must be

willing to taste bitter failure as well.

Let me take a few minutes to take you through University

education as it is in Sri Lanka today. Academic excellence is the

cornerstone of any good university. And some of you may have

aspirations of joining a University of Excellence, which calls for

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the staff and students striving for the very best. Unfortunately

many of our universities are essentially degree awarding bodies

and pay little attention to research.

Cambridge University Emeritus Professor Peter Fellget

describes a teaching only university as an absurd notion. He says

knowledge is always incomplete, and if allowed to become static

its value is lost. It needs to be continually extended and

refreshed. Universities do this by research. If not, it is not just

tertiary education that suffers, but every level; the downward

diffusion of original ideas dries up, we become an

underdeveloped country having to take our knowledge stale and

second-hand from more enlightened nations that encourage and

support their universities. In order to fulfill its duty to truth and

knowledge a university must perform three functions. These are

preservation of knowledge, adding to knowledge, and

disseminating knowledge. They form an indivisible trinity;

remove any one and all three are lost. Dear Students, words of

wisdom from Emeritus Professor Peter Fellget.

During the next few minutes or so let me outline briefly

the country’s Science and Technology status and what is in store

for you to help you climb the ladder of life.

In comparison to the increase in per capita income of

many Asian countries, Sri Lanka’s per capita GDP has increased

by a mere 28 times since the Sixties; Malaysia saw an increase in

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per capita GDP by 42 times, China by 99 times, Singapore by 124

times and South Korea by 175 times. Economic liberalization and

reforms undertaken recently have fuelled the economies of

neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Philippines and

Vietnam, generating greater wealth for their people. Government

has therefore targeted to increase our per capita income of US$

3624 to well above US $ 6,000 within the next few years through

various economic liberalization and reforms, and thereby placing

our country in the ranks of upper middle-income nations.

One of the critical factors to reach this goal will be

investment in science and technology. If we are to take the

country forward from a basic factor driven economy to an

innovation led economy, effective use of knowledge through the

generation of technology is vital.

Sri Lanka currently has 237 R&D personnel per million

populations whereas the world average is about 4 times Sri

Lanka’s figure. The developed country average is about 14 times

higher. The Government has therefore set a target to increase

the present level by 4 times and to bring it on par with the world

average within the next decade. That means we have to increase

the present number of 4600 R&D persons to about 18,000 in 10

years. Universities, in particular the Science and Engineering

faculties, have to gear themselves to supplying this captive

demand in the coming years. Similarly our investment in R&D, a

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meager 0.13 % of the GDP should also be raised to the World

average of 1% during this period.

But the question is, can we achieve this target? Frankly

speaking it is a tall order. Putting up Universities, Science Cities

and Hi-tech laboratories alone is not going to bring this sea

change. Better remuneration, better perks for scientists and

engineers will certainly help in this transformation, but we need

a fundamental change in the attitude of the people, of society

towards science. For the Government to fund scientific research

and to improve science education, public enthusiasm,

understanding and support are needed.

Another factor that need to be tackled is the issue of the

younger generation moving away from science, a global

phenomenon today. But unlike in developed nations the

repercussions are more acute in Sri Lanka because of our fragile

S&T base. There has to be a focused effort at increasing the

numbers of young people studying science, technology,

engineering and mathematics – the so called STEM subjects and

raising the level of STEM literacy in the country.

Some of the key strategies proposed by the State to

increase our GDP are to raise the hi-tech value added exports

from the current 1.5% to 10% and to achieve a marked increase

of import replacement in selected production through enhanced

and focused R&D within the next few years. Several export

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sectors such as agro-industries, fishery products, apparel, value

added tea and rubber products, gems and jewellery, local

minerals etc., have been targeted for hi-tech intervention.

When it comes to import replacement several sectors are

being targeted at for technological intervention. Dairy and

livestock industry is a unique economic activity that can be

expanded rapidly in our country. One of the major issues in the

dairy sector is the low productivity. While we produce on the

average about 6 litres of milk/cow/day, Israel, a desert in the

Middle-East, produces about 22 litres/cow/day. The reason

behind the phenomenal success of Israel in milk production is

science and technology. With focused R&D our milk yield can be

raised many fold which will save US$ 350 million in foreign

exchange and generate new income sources for our rural

entrepreneurs. Although we are surrounded by ocean we

continue to import dried fish and canned fish spending annually

around US$ 150 million. Hence development in the fishery

sector, both traditional and non-traditional fisheries, is a priority

for the country. Annually we spend about US$ 6000 million, 1/3

of the total cost of all imports, to import oil to meet our country’s

energy demand. If we are to reduce this import bill, we need to

actively encourage R&D in renewable energy such as solar, wind,

and biomass.

The destruction of natural forests, rivers and reservoirs,

rain forests, animals and wildlife, has brought about severe

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hardships across the entire world. The Government, recognizing

a green environment as a corner stone of our development has

proposed to expand the forestry coverage to 35 percent of land,

targeting 250,000 hectares with conservation programs to

preserve rain forests, reservoirs and the wildlife as an integral

part.

All these interventions, whether it is to increase our

exports or to replace our imports or to preserve our

environment, require quality science and engineering graduates.

The demand for them in the Universities, Government Research

Institutions and the Private Sector is therefore expected to rise

significantly in the coming years.

Let me now relate a story about connecting the dots from

Steve Jobs biography. Steve Jobs son of a Syrian Immigrant is one

of the great inventors of the 21st century. He entered Reed

College, one of the prestigious colleges in the USA, but after just

six months he dropped out of College. But he stayed around as a

drop-in for another 18 months. He couldn't see the value in the

college education, as he had no idea what he wanted to do with

his life and no idea how college was going to help him figure it

out. But looking back, Steve Jobs says, it was one of the best

decisions he ever made. The minute he dropped out he could

stop taking the required classes that didn't interest him, and

begin going for classes that looked interesting. Reed College at

that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the

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country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on

every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Steve Jobs

decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. He

learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the

amount of space between different letter combinations, about

what makes a great typography. It was beautiful, historical,

artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and he

found that fascinating.

At the time he did not have even the smallest hope that it

would have a practical application in his life. But ten years later,

when his team was designing the first Macintosh computer, it all

came back to him. And they designed it all into the Mac. It was

the first computer with beautiful typography. If he had never

dropped out, he would never have attended that calligraphy

course in college, and the Mac would have never had multiple

typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows

just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would

have. Of course while in College it was impossible for Steve Jobs

to connect the dots looking forward. But it all fell into place

looking backwards ten years later.

Steve Jobs’ advise - you too have to trust that the dots

will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in

something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This

approach has never let him down, says Steve Jobs and it has

made all the difference to his life.

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Another significant milestone in Steve’s life was when he

was sacked from Apple, the company he formed. Steve started

Apple with his roommate, Wozniac in his parents’ garage when

he was 20, and in 10 years Apple had grown into a $2 billion

company with over 4000 employees. As Apple grew they hired

John Sculley, President of Pepsi-Cola, who Steve Jobs thought

was very talented to run the company with him, and for the first

year or so things went well. But then they fell out and the Board

of Directors sided with the new comer, John Sculley. So just one

year after Apple had released their finest creation the Macintosh,

Steve was kicked out at the age of 30. What had been the focus of

his entire adult life was gone, and sure it was devastating.

Although he did not see it then, getting fired from Apple

was the best thing that could have ever happened to Steve Jobs.

The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness

of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed

him from the shackles of business. He was free to enter one of

the most creative periods of his life.

He started a company named NeXT and another

company named Pixar. Pixar went on to create the worlds first

computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and Pixar today is

the most successful animation studio in the world. In a

remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, Steve returned to

Apple, and the technology they developed at NeXT is at the heart

of Apple's current resurgence. The iPod, iPhone and iPad are all

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Steve’s brilliant creations– these devices have dramatically

changed the way in which we communicate and the way in

which we consume content. And in a space of 8 years he

transformed Apple from the brink of bankruptcy into a stock

market superstar and today Apple is one of the biggest publicly

quoted firm - $ 347 billion- in the world.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick – that is

exactly what happened to Steve Jobs. He did not lose faith. What

kept him going was he loved what he did. His advise to all of us is

You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your

work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part

of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what

you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is

to love what you do.

Dear Students, a truly remarkable life story of Steve Jobs.

His fascination with calligraphy during his college days enabled

him to develop the famous Macintosh fonts 10 years later, which

became the benchmark for all the computers. Even after he was

sacked and publicly humiliated by Apple he continued to do what

he loved- Computers- and came back to Apple as the CEO and

made it one of the most admired company in the world today.

Let me conclude my talk by quoting President

Maithripala Sirisena from one of his speeches. “In order to build

a strong democratic and equitable nation it is necessary to

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promote unity, friendship and coexistence among those who

follow different religions and also among different communities,

we need to ensure reconciliation and brotherhood that will

eliminate mistrust, doubt and fear among people and move

towards a just society that will ensure the rights of all Sri Lankan

people”

Barak Obama, one of the most charismatic Presidents of

the United States, once said - "I know that when I'm on my

deathbed someday, I won't be thinking about any particular

legislation I passed, or policy I promoted. I won't be thinking

about the speech I gave, or the Nobel Prize I received, I'll be

thinking about a walk I took with my daughters, a lazy afternoon

with my wife, whether I did right by all of them."

Dear Students, what is important in the end is not that

how much money you earned or how big a position you held or

how many prizes/awards you received in your lifetime. What is

important is to lead a healthy life giving priority to family values

and communal and religious harmony and, become a respected

citizen in the society.

And let me leave with you a famous quote from the

spiritual leader Dalai Lama when you step outside of this hall

and venture in to the real world.

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Take care of your Thoughts because they become Words.

Take care of your Words because they will become Actions.

Take care of your Actions because they will become Habits.

Take care of your Habits because they will form your Character.

Take care of your Character because it will form your Destiny,

and your Destiny will be your Life.”

Thank you all,

Dr. A.M. Mubarak Dr. Azeez M. Mubarak B.Sc. (Hons) (Cey)), PhD (Cantab), C. Chem., F.I.Chem. (Cey), FNASSL